Scott Pace Installed as Southeastern Seminary’s New President

Third new SBC seminary leader this year signals generational transition underway.

WAKE FOREST, N.C. (RNS) — Standing in full academic regalia on the stage of Binkley Chapel on Tuesday (Oct. 13), R. Scott Pace was inaugurated president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, promising that “in everything we do, it’s all going to be about one name”: Jesus.

R. Scott Pace speaks during his presidential inauguration ceremony Oct. 13, 2026 / RNS photo by Yonat Shimron

The change of the guard, following the retirement of Daniel Akin earlier this year, signals a new chapter for Southeastern, which has grown to be the fifth largest theological school in the U.S., with nearly 1,600 seminary students this year.

Pace, 51, who completed his Master of Divinity and Ph.D. from Southeastern, and most recently served as provost and chief academic officer, is one of three new seminary presidents at the Southern Baptist Convention’s six seminaries.

The new cohort is succeeding an older group of leaders, many of whom, like Akin, were key champions of the conservative takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention in the early 1980s.

In his 23-minute address, Pace promised to remain faithful to the vision of what Southern Baptists call the “conservative resurgence.”

20 Largest Seminaries by FTE Enrollment (2025) in red are affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. (Graphic by Ryan Burge)

“I want to say as clearly as I can, I believe that the Bible is the inspired inerrant, infallible word of God. That it is, in fact, sufficient as the sole and supreme authority for all life, and as such, Scripture is the ultimate truth and foundational standard for all knowledge,” Pace said.

Theological education is not a requirement for pastors leading Baptist churches, but it is a point of pride for the denomination, the nation’s largest Protestant body. This year, the six SBC seminaries will split about $40 million in denominational funding — far more than any other denomination gives to its theological schools.

“In some ways the last couple of decades have been a real renaissance of theological education in the Southern Baptist schools,” said Ed Stetzer, dean of the nondenominational Talbot Seminary at Biola University and formerly head of the Southern Baptist’s research arm, Lifeway.

Though the denomination has faced a long and slow decline in membership — it now numbers about 12.3 million members — its seminaries are thriving. Five of the six Southern Baptist seminaries rank in the top 10 seminaries in enrollment, according to data from the Association of Theological Schools, and it is estimated that 25% of all students in a Master of Divinity program in the U.S. are studying at SBC seminaries.

People enter Binkley Chapel, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026, on the campus of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary / RNS photo by Yonat Shimron

Southeastern, a verdant, leafy campus, originally the site of Wake Forest University, has also grown to include an undergraduate school, Judson College, with an enrollment of 1,030 students this year.

Many of those undergraduates filled the Colonial-style Binkley Chapel for the inauguration. (An increasing number of seminary students are remote learners and study online.)

Meredith Hargett, a 21-year-old undergraduate, said Pace was her professor last year at a class called “Vocation and Calling.” She said she appreciated how “down-to-earth” he was.

“He doesn’t use big theological words,” Hargett said. “He uses plain language and he’s easy to talk to.”

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The conservative resurgence, now more than 45 years ago, purged moderates and liberals from the denomination’s agencies and schools and enforced biblical inerrancy and a male-only pastoral leadership. (The seminaries enroll women, even in Master of Divinity tracks, though they cannot serve as SBC pastors when they graduate.)

R. Scott Pace speaks during his presidential inauguration ceremony in Binkley Chapel, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026 / Photo by Emeri Glen for Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

David Dockery, the president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, said he estimated that only about half of Southern Baptist pastors have a Master of Divinity seminary degree.

“We believe it’s still the best route toward long-term ministry for those called to serve churches,” said Dockery. He was not at Pace’s inauguration Tuesday but sent his provost.

Both Southeastern and Southwestern receive about 16% of their annual budget each from the Southern Baptist Convention’s so-called Cooperative Program giving plan.

Dockery said the generational shift in new seminary presidents is ongoing.

“It will not be long until you’ll have an entirely new generation of leaders in the six seminaries,” Dockery said. Speaking of Pace, he added, “I think he’s very capable and well prepared for this calling on his life.”

(National reporter Bob Smietana contributed to this story.)

MAIN PHOTO: R. Scott Pace speaks during his presidential inauguration ceremony Oct. 13, 2026 / RNS photo by Yonat Shimron

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